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Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale (1972-present)
Emmerdale (known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989) is a long running British soap opera which begun on the 16th October 1972. Originally it was known as Emmerdale Farm and featured the lives of the Sugden's of Emmerdale Farm. Over the years the focus gradually shifted more towards the village itself, and in 1989 the word "Farm" was dropped from the shows title, as much of the show was not solely about Emmerdale Farm. Today in 2016, the show still focuses on the Sugdens but also focuses on many other families. 1972-1976 It all begun with the funeral of Jacob Sugden on the 16th October 1972. His widow Annie Sugden and children Joe Sugden and Peggy Skilbeck and her husband Matt Skilbeck, and Annie's father Sam Pearson were present. Annie was hoping that her and Jacob's other son Jack Sugden would return to the fold after 8 years living in London. Jack did return to claim his inheritance. In the first episode, The Woolpack landlord Amos Brearly was introduced as was retired mill owner Henry Wilks. Within a year, Amos and Henry went into partnership at the Woolpack. Jack was more interested in living at the old mill which was on Emmerdale Farm land. Peggy Skilbeck died suddenly in July 1973. Jack Sugden returned to London in October of that year, this gave Joe Sugden time to shine as the main male Sugden at the farm. In 1974, Joe Sugden dated Christine Sharp and a traveller, Dryden Hogben did odd jobs for the Sugdens and was befriended by them. Joe and Christie wed in September 1974 but seperated after 6 weeks as she was too ambitious and had a habit of using credit cards whereas Joe was happy as a farm labourer. In 1975, Annie's distant cousin Rosemary Kendall stayed at Emmerdale Farm. The Sugdens also became involved in feuds with Jim Gimbel, a neighbouring farmer. Joe even dated Jim's daughter Kathy Gimbel. One major change to the show occurred in January 1976 when the Woolpack was suffering from subsidence. A huge crack appeared in the walk in fireplace and scaffold had to be erected outside. A new premises was chosen in another part of the village as the new pub, the vacant old corn chandlers. At first Amos hated the new premises but soon got used to it. Jack Sugden returned briefly this year with writers block before heading back to Rome. Joe and Christine divorced this year. 1977-1984 In 1977, Joe Sugden left Emmerdale Farm and moved into a cottage in Demdyke Row, a row of houses in Beckindale. His on off relationship with Kathy Gimbel ended when her tyrannical father Jim killed himself with a shotgun after his wife Freda left him. In 1978, Seth Armstrong arrived, Matt Skilbeck married Dolly Acaster and local squire George Verney died and his nephew Gerald Verney sold off the manor house to NY Estates. The manor was renamed Home Farm. The first Home Farm manager was Trevor Thatcher. Home Farm became a major location in the show as well as Emmerdale Farm, and was often seen as a rival to Emmerdale. Trevor was pretty incompetent after causing a crisis at the Fish Farm, Home Farm. He was replaced by Maurice Westrop. Westrop was posted to Wales in 1980, the year Jack Sugden returned, with a new head, played by a new actor. That year, his childhood sweetheart Pat Merrick returned, to flee from her tyrannical husband Tom Merrick. Pat had 2 teenage children, Jackie Merrick and Sandie Merrick. Jackie was suspected to be Jack's son as he looked like Jack and Pat quickly married Tom after Jack left for London way back in 1964. Joe Sugden went to work at Home Farm and became estate manager. In January 1982, Jack found out he was Jackie's father, and this lead to a huge fight between him and Tom Merrick. Jack and Pat married later that year. In March 1982, Alan Turner took over as estate manager of Home Farm. He was quite humble to begin with but his true colours started to show towards the end of the year. He became grotty to the workers and blamed Joe Sugden for everything. In 1983 he even blackmailed shop steward John Tuplin into going along with redundancies announced by NY Estates. Turner also made passes at his secretaries and made no end of mistakes. In early 1984, he was carpeted by Christopher Meadows and took on a new secretary, Caroline Bates. Caroline bought out a more mellow side to Turner, as well as a comic side. Archie Brooks was introduced as a friend of Jackie. The year ended with the death of Sam Pearson, the old country man who had won a pumpkin competiton the night before. 1985-1989 Jackie Merrick became lazy and incompetent at Emmerdale Farm. That year he had a motorbike smash and spent months in hospital, where he started seeing his nurse Sita Sharma. Also, Caroline Bates' children Nick Bates and Kathy Bates were introduced, increasing the amount of younger characters in the show alongside Jackie, Sandie and Archie. In November 1985, local villain Harry Mowlam and 2 friends, Derek Warner and Keith Johnson stole £10'000 from a wages van and hid the proceeds in a remote field on Mowlam's land. Mowlam also terrorised Dolly Skilbeck. In January 1986, he had a fight with Matt and was found dead the following day. Matt was suspected but Derek Warner confessed, as he fought with Mowlam over the proceeds of the robbery. In April 1986, Jack and Pat became parents again to Robert Sugden. Pat died in a car crash 4 months later. In 1987, the village fought against a nuclear dump proposal in the village. 1989-1993 So, in November 1989, the month that the word "Farm" was dropped from the shows title, the new Tate family were bought in to give the show a Dynasty style feel. This consisted of self made millionaire Frank Tate, his much younger wife Kim Tate, and Frank's son Chris Tate and daughter Zoe Tate. This was a turning point in the show as the Sugdens were no longer the main family in the show. And a few episodes could be set away from Emmerdale Farm itself. In February 1990, another family, the Feldmann's was introduced. Michael Feldmann, his sister Elsa Feldmann and their mother Elizabeth Feldmann. Michael became friends with the other youths of the village such as Mark, Rachel, Nick and Archie. This ensured the show would focus more on younger characters as well as older ones like Annie, Amos, Henry, Alan, Eric and Seth. Thus giving Emmerdale a Neighbours/Home And Away feel. 1994-2000 2000-2004 2004-2009 2009-present In January 2009, a new family, the Wylde's moved into Home Farm, and were just like their predecessors the Tates and Kings. Category:Emmerdale.